Couple drive 2500 miles to rescue flee-bitten mongrel they spotted on Greek holiday

By LIZ HULL

Last updated at 16:08 19 April 2007

Most people when they go on holiday abroad fall in love with the culture or the food.

But when Paul and Elaine Evans' daughter, Alice, took a shine to a mangy, flea-bitten stray dog during a trip to Greece, the couple didn't have the heart to leave it behind.

Instead they drove more than 2,500 miles and spent an incredible £4,000 in order to bring the hunting hound, named Bea, back home to Britain.

Mrs Evans, a nurse, from Guilsfield, near Welshpool, Mid Wales, said that, despite the cost, it was all worthwhile. "Bea is a lovely dog," she said.

"It was worth every penny just to have her home with us.

"We would see her every day on the beach and she would come over to us looking for someone to feed her."

"She was a stray and was tick infested and had these really sad eyes.

"Alice fell in love with her and persuaded us to give her a home whatever the cost."

By the end of the week-long holiday, on the island of Zakynthos last July, the couple and Alice, 11, decided they were going to adopt two-year-old Bea.

On their return home they contacted Greek Animal Rescue, a London charity which put them in touch with a welfare group on the island who managed to find Bea.

Instead of putting the dog in quarantine kennels, the Evans' arranged for Bea to be quarantined in a foster home.

"There are many stray dogs in Greece, but Bea was the first one we saw and we immediately felt sorry for her," Mr Evans, 35, an insurance consultant, said.

"She looked thin and was covered in ticks and fleas, but we saw her every day and she captured our hearts.

"Alice was keen to bring her home, but initially my wife and I told her it just wasn't possible.

"But after being told that people put meat laced with poison down to try and kill the stray dogs, we decided on our last night in Greece to adopt her.

"We decided we had to come to her rescue, but feared she would spend months in quarantine kennels, so were pleased that she could be quarantined with a foster carer instead."

A retired British Army dog handler and veterinary nurse, who live in Greece, agreed to foster Bea for seven months while she underwent expensive medical tests and jabs for rabies.

In the meantime, the Evans family applied for a pet passport.

When the correct documentation arrived three weeks ago they hired a camper van and set off on the 2,500-mile round journey across France, Switzerland and Italy before eventually arriving in Greece last month.

The couple, who already have three other dogs, said Bea is settling in well.

Although it cost them nearly £4,000 in medical bills, travel and accommodation to rescue Bea, they say it has been worth every penny.